Innovation Will Be The Key To Success in 2014: Who Will Thrive?

No, this epiphany is not exactly new, I recognize. This idea came to me recently after I visited the Experience Music Project in Seattle. That’s where two local visionaries, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, grew up and later set the music world on fire.

Of course, Hendrix and Cobain where anything but media prophets. But the point is that new ideas, when executed well, can energize the entire world. It boils down to having original ideas and approaches and smartly putting them into action.

Yes, I’m thinking now about another Washington State maverick: Jeff Bezos. Can Bezos grab the spirit of Hendrix and Cobain and turn around the Washington Post — by innovating. What’s in the water in Washington State, anyway?

As I have written, Bezos, the architect of Amazon (and guess which state it is based in) is the most intriguing person to watch in 2014. He succeeded in appearing on 60 Minutes on the eve of Cyber Monday — a golden day every year for Amazon — to drone on about how drones are going to delve Amazon’s parcels and shake up the world.

If you take the time to visit Paul Allen’s Experience Music Project in Seattle, you can’t help but feel swept up in the charisma of the likes of Hendrix and Cobain. Sure, they were excellent musicians but that isn’t the whole story. They had a new attitude, which accounted for a great deal of their success.

Jeff Bezos inherited that innovative spirit. Don’t bet against him as he tries to make progress at the Post.